MiCA, in classroom words

MiCA is the usual classroom short name for Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 — Markets in Crypto-Assets. Nominative: that title stays with the European Union. It is a regulation, which in EU law applies across member states without each one rewriting it as a local copy. It is not a ticker. It is not a badge this classroom prints. It is not “Europe said buy.”

The Official Journal published it in 2023. Titles on asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens applied from 30 June 2024. The rest of the CASP rulebook applied from 30 December 2024. Some member states stretched a transitional lane toward 1 July 2026 for shops already doing the work under old national law. That date is now a record behind this classroom. A page that still says “grandfathered” without an authorization number is wearing a calendar as a costume.

ESMA — the European Securities and Markets Authority — and the EBA — the European Banking Authority — write technical standards and keep EU-level lists. Day-to-day authorization of a crypto-asset service provider sits with a national competent authority: BaFin, AMF, CONSOB, the CNMV, the Central Bank of Ireland, and the rest of the map. Nominative: those marks stay with those shops. We do not speak for any of them.

Human: a landing page that shouts “MiCA compliant” without a country, a register, and a number you can type yourself is wearing a fence as a costume. Laugh once. Then look the shop up on that country’s own site, not on a screenshot. Passing this path is not a CASP license. Look. Do not buy. Not a lawyer.